Bruce and Cat: Lazarus
by The-Riddler95
Summary: Talia Lennon is the orphan daughter of a serial killer, taking refuge at Wayne manor. Richard Optico is a mad doctor and police consultant with a secret. Slade Wilson is supposedly the man who killed the Waynes. All are suspects in a mystery that may destroy Gotham for good. Who is Ra's al Ghul?
1. Call of the Demon

**In case you haven't read, this is a sequel to Bruce and Cat: Dollmaker's Island, but you really don't have to read it in that order. This is the third instalment of the series; you can check out the first two on my profile page. If you have read it, there is no time jump from the end of Dollmaker's Island. This starts directly after Bruce and Selina leave the house.**

Because of how famous Bruce Wayne had become in recent days, the two couldn't go anywhere fancy for their date. Even in the streets Selina was used to, though, Bruce stuck out like a sore thumb. He was way cleaner and more baby-faced than the rest of the street kids, and how uncomfortable he was made him obviously from the rich side of town. He tried to seem comfortable, but his lack of speaking and his weird interactions with other people made it obvious.

"Some constructive criticism for you, kid," Selina said, sipping the last few drops of the soda in her hands, "You are really bad at this." She had told Bruce his clothes were too formal for her turf and made him wear a hoodie and sweatpants, so Bruce made her wear a dress shirt to balance it out. It felt weird on her since she was so used to wearing two or three layers, but Bruce wasn't doing much better. Gotham was going through its version of winter, where the snow froze upon touching the ground, forming a light, icy sheet of frost.

"I'm not that bad at it." Bruce laughed, trying to defend himself.

"You asked the guy at the French fry stand for the bill."

"Well for our next date, we're going to an expensive restaurant on the mansion district. I'd love to see you make off with a few of their forks."

Selina laughed. "Did I not tell you? Most cliché love story ever."

The two were interrupted by a girl, probably another street kid, stepping up to them and asking, "You're Bruce Wayne, aren't you?"

The girl was their age, maybe one year younger than Selina. She was wearing a black jacket and fabric pants, with multiple leather belts around her waist. That would usually mean she was from the streets, but her skin was white as paper, and her hair was neatly curled down her neck.

Bruce looked questioningly at her. "Yes. I didn't think anyone from this side of town knew who I was."

"Oh, I'm not. I was told to wait here while Detective Gordon went to do something at the precinct."

Selina nodded. "You're a street kid?"

"Well my dad is dead, so I guess I am."

"I'm so sorry." Bruce whispered.

The girl shook her head. "Don't be. The old man was the devil. Anyway, are you two dating?"

Bruce stuttered like he normally did whenever someone asked him, and Selina had to chime in. "Yes, we are."

The girl turned to Bruce and grinned, fixing the front of her hair a bit and cracking her wrist. "He's cute. Can he fight? He looks like he can fight."

Bruce was going to answer, but Selina simply nodded and dragged him away by the arm like she did. She wasn't getting a good feeling from the girl. Bruce looked back at her, and she grinned, waving to him.

Selina pulled his arm until he got the idea and started to walk with her, confused. He didn't ask though, and the two made their way back to Wayne manor. It wasn't a long walk. They were in the alley around the corner from the mansion, where a few street kids hung out and come people put up food stands to take advantage of them. Usually no one could afford anything, so that was probably why Bruce stuck out so much.

It was a walk up an alley and through a street that got the two to the doorway at Wayne manor, where it was another length through a gate and across a garden to the front door. Selina started a tradition where she would climb up to the window in Bruce's bedroom and open the front door for him, so he had to watch her be more athletic than him until he started climbing with her.

Selina nudged Bruce with her elbow, smirking, and started climbing up the tree near the bedroom window.

"See, Bruce? Most fifteen year old guys in Gotham can do this." she yelled down to him.

Bruce said something defensive, but Selina didn't hear. She was too focused on climbing. She made her way up to a notch in the tree that marked the place she always jumped from, and leapt to grab the edge of Bruce's windowsill and using her legs to ease herself into the wall. Bruce watched as Selina heaved herself up and disappeared into the window, and waited for her to open the door.

Selina made her way down the stairs and into the living room when she saw Jim Gordon talking to Alfred on the couch, sitting with a man she had never met. He wore a suit and looked old, so she assumed he was from the rich side of town.

"Hey." she said, her voice hushed by the harsh looks from Jim and Alfred. "What's up?"

"Selina," Jim stood up from the couch. "Where's Bruce?"

"He's outside; I was just about to let him in. Why, what's wrong?"

The adults didn't say anything, and Selina took it as her cue to open the door for Bruce. Bruce skipped in, laughing, which only seemed to lower Jim and Alfred's spirits. He turned to the two adults, stifling his laughter and asking, "Hello, Detective Gordon. What brings you by?"

Jim took a deep breath and put on a grim tone, killing Bruce's smile, and started. "Bruce, sit down."

Questioningly, Bruce sat down on the couch next to Alfred, and Selina leaned against the armrest in front of Jim.

"We've found the man who killed your parents." Jim sighed. "He walked into the GCPD this morning and handed himself in. I thought you'd want to know before the Gazette gets a hold of this."

Bruce froze. He didn't know what to do or say, so he just froze. He didn't know whether to be overjoyed or furious or heartbroken or all of them at once, so he simply froze in his place, as if he had turned into stone. He knew what was happening, but he had so many nightmares about the moment, he could've dismissed it for a dream. Jim saw the look on his face, and leaned back onto a chair.

"Now, the reason I'm telling you this is because we have him in police custody. I thought you would want to meet him, but I can understand if you're not-"

"No." Bruce meant to be calm, but he yelled his response, quieting the entire room. He didn't mean to, but at the same time, he did. It seemed as if all the pressures of his parents had compressed themselves into the smallest form possible, and now they were exploding. And Bruce had to handle it all. He was the only one that did. "No," he said again, this time quieter. "I want to talk to him."

He brought his fist up and punched the couch beneath him, and went up to his room. He didn't look at anyone in the room, just looking down and climbing the stairs up to his room. The others stayed silent until they heard the slamming of Bruce's bedroom door and a small muffled scream.

The other man Selina didn't know took off his thick, metal glasses. "My name is Professor Richard Optico. I'm a trauma counsellor for the GCPD. I was one of Detective Gordon's consultants on the case, his last before Mr. Wilson confessed to killing Thomas and Martha Wayne."

Alfred seemed to jar awake from a daze. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Optico."

The professor nodded. "In cases like this, I've found it best to separate a victim from the case as much as possible. I'm not suggesting we don't let Mr. Wayne see the man who victimized him, but prolonged exposure to such a traumatic familiarity may send him back months in recovery. Talking him out of it would be a worthwhile commission, but perhaps someone close to him."

"I'll do it." Selina said, grabbing the attention of the room. "I'm the closest to him. You all know it."

"Of course, Ms. Kyle."

"Why did he come clean, though?" she asked. "Why confess? You said it might've been a hired assassin or a trained killer. Why would someone like that just confess to a crime they've spent all this time trying to keep under wraps?"

Jim looked at Optico, and he shrugged. "It's hard to say. Of course, there is a chance it isn't him. It could be a delusional, or a homeless man trying to gain the protection of prison. You and Bruce are the only two witnesses alive to the murder of the Waynes. We were hoping one of you could match a silhouette or find some redeeming feature to prove it was him."

Selina nodded, and started up the stairs to Bruce's room when Jim stopped her midway.

Jim nodded and turned back to Alfred, but talked like he was addressing both of them. "Look, I know I couldn't have picked a worse time to spring this on you, and I completely understand if you don't want any part of it. Do you remember the Ogre?"

"The Don Juan killer?" Selina asked. "You shot him through the skull."

"Yes, and we have a girl that claims to be his daughter. She's about the same age as you and Bruce, and she was sent to Gotham because her mother abandoned her. She won't be able to live on the streets long, and no one will take the daughter of the Ogre. You're the only people I know to have taken in a child, perhaps you could take another until I find her a home?"

Alfred looked over at Selina, then back at Jim. "What's her name?"

"We don't have an ID on her, but she says her name is Talia Lennon."

Alfred sighed. "Well, if there's no ID, I think it would be risky to let her stay here. It could be a homeless girl seeking shelter or-"

"She can stay." Selina said. "I know the streets. If she's telling the truth, a city girl won't last a day. Let's just hope you find orphanages faster than you find killers."

Selina ran up the stairs and turned the knob of the bedroom door, peering through the crack, seeing Bruce in his room. The nightstand was knocked over onto the floor, and books were scattered all over the carpet. The shattered remains of a vase were lying on the floor, and Bruce was standing in the center of the room, punching the bedpost. Screaming as loud as he could and punching as hard as his body would let him, he threw a right hook at the wooden bedpost and turned, plunging his fist into the wall.

Selina had never seen him like that before. It almost seemed like a different person, but the look in his eyes was exactly the same as the boy whose parents she witnessed murdered in an alley. She ran towards him, grabbing his forearms as he tried to struggle free. His knuckles were bruised and bleeding, and Selina held them down in front of him, forcing him to look up at her. Bruce stared into Selina's shiny green eyes as if they were smothering a fire in him, and his scowl melted away as his lip started to quiver and a renegade tear escaped his eye. Soon, Bruce's innocent brown eyes began glimmering with tears and his legs gave, Selina helping him kneel on the floor, truly exploding.

Neither of them said a word. Bruce just let himself fall apart in Selina's arms. Selina held Bruce's trembling body in her arms and held him together while he crumbled like a skyscraper. Neither of them had to say anything as the two leaned on each other and Selina let Bruce fall to pieces. She would pick him up.

"I want to kill him." Bruce finally choked out. It was nothing more than a whisper, strangled with the pain and tears and quivering as much as he was. Selina felt his heartbeat shake with his voice and his breath become unsteady gasps. Selina didn't move a muscle, taking Bruce into her and holding him. "But there's nothing I can do. Nothing I can do to him will take away as much as he's taken away from me."

"I can't let you see him." Selina sighed, bringing her arms closer to her side to bring his face up to hers. "I can't let you do this to yourself."

He wasn't angry at her. He didn't know what he was angry at, but he was furious enough to hurt someone for damn sure. "No, I'm going to see him. I'm going to find out why he did it, and then I'm going to watch him rot into bones in a prison cell."

"That won't make you feel better." Selina brought his eyes back to hers. "You have to think about yourself. You have to make yourself better, and be a better man than he is. I know you are."

"I know." Bruce gasped. "But he's going to pay. He's going to pay for what he's taken from me."

Selina held him back close to her, and Bruce leaned on her. They stayed that way for ages, time seeming to freeze, and Bruce finally standing up and turning his back. Selina watched him walk away from her and fixate on the window in front of him, and she turned to go back out the front door. The window seemed inappropriate at the point.

She felt the cold air brush past her face and ran until she found a place where she could climb. She climbed up the side of a building until she reached the top, gazing out over the height of Gotham city, and then started running. She ran over the top of the building and leapt to its neighbour house, dashing over the rooftops. It gave her clarity. The adrenaline forced her to think. It made her focus on things and see them more clearly. For Selina Kyle, it was heaven.

Bruce had just started downstairs when Jim and Professor Optico left the mansion, the sound of the door closing jarring him awake. Alfred didn't hear him, and was surprised when he talked from halfway up the stairs, his voice strangled and weak.

"When can we go?"

Alfred stuttered, not knowing what to say. "Yes, Master Bruce. Detective Gordon said to stop by the precinct any time within the next forty-eight hours. Are you quite sure you want to?"

Bruce nodded. "Yes. Will you please get a suit ready?"

"Of course. Though a suit isn't the type of clothing you normally wear to a police investigation."

"I have to show him exactly who I am, and what I have. If he's coming clean, I should too."

Starting the climb back up the stairs, Bruce slumped on his bed and buried his face in his hands to think. A while ago, he always played a game in his head, asking himself, _what would he say to the man who murdered his parents?_ He played it every minute of every day, and now he actually had a chance to do it. The game got a lot harder. He could ask questions for days, non-stop. But the first question he was going to ask was _why._ That was decided. Everything else would come from that. That would be enough.

Bruce heard Alfred's footsteps up the stairs, and kept his head down as Alfred peered through the door. "Master Bruce, your suit is ready. Do you want to go now?"

Bruce nodded in his hands. "Yes. Thank you, Alfred."

"Would you like me to fetch Miss Kyle?"

"No. I started this alone, and I'm going to finish it that way."

With that said, Bruce followed Alfred down the stairs and outside to the car, where the cold air made him shiver. Alfred opened the door for him, and he lifted himself into the car, a shiny black limousine with silver outlining. He slumped back in the seats and waited for Alfred to start it, and then they were off.

The police precinct wasn't far from Wayne manor. They drove there almost too quickly, as the frozen snow had made all of Gotham seem monotonous, all the building covered in rime and frozen into unrecognizable cubes and rectangular prisms. The precinct was bigger than most of the buildings it neighboured, and the GCPD signs made it stand out.

Alfred opened the door for Bruce, parking in the front and attracting the attention of a few cops. Bruce got out and stood, stiff and dignified, beside Alfred. Together, they walked through the doors and found themselves in the middle of a bustle of cops. All of them looked rushed and tired.

Jim noticed the two, coming down the steps from his desk to meet them. "Bruce, Alfred. Here for a purpose, I presume?"

"Yes." Bruce said, getting ever nervous as the meeting came closer.

Jim nodded. "Come right this way."

He led them through the bedlam and up a flight of stairs into a hall. There were fewer people, and when Jim closed the door, the noise disappeared. The three kept heading straight down the hall until they reached an interrogation room, a small office with one window and no furniture, leave a table and some chairs to sit on. It was divided into two parts, a wall of glass between them that could be lifted. A door led to one of them, and in the other one was a man.

It was what Bruce was scared of the most. It was what he spent hours thinking would kill him, and it did. He was screaming, and his body almost gave, leaning in closer to see the imposter through the window.

It wasn't him. It couldn't be. Bruce only saw a clouded silhouette the night his parents were killed, the murderer veiled in a black mask and the surrounding smog. Even then, with that shady memory burned into his memory like a branding iron, he knew the man in front of him did not kill his parents. This man was much too tall, at least six feet and built to the point that his muscle would've easily shown through the loose, black clothes. His chest was too wide, and he wore an eye patch over one eye, where Bruce's parent's killer had both eyes.

"Is it him?" Jim asked, trying to hold Bruce up. Without him, he might have thrown up. "Do you think this could be the man that killed your parents?"

Bruce lied. He had to, or else they might not have let him talk to the man. He wanted to. "I think so. May I talk to him alone?"

"The booth is soundproofed, but there will be cops out here in case he tries to make a move."

Jim opened the door for him, and closed it behind him. He lightly pushed Alfred back into the main precinct, and Bruce sat down in a chair. There was a phone on the wall so he could hear the man on the other side of the glass, and he picked it up.

"Who are you?" Bruce asked.

The man grinned, showing his missing teeth and hissing into the phone. "I'm the man that killed your parents."

Bruce shook his head. "You're not. Stop pretending."

The man sighed, still smiling sadistically. "Fine, but when I was a kid, my parents told me a little imagination was good for me. My name is Slade Wilson."

Bruce was trembling. "Why did you lie to the police?"

"I won't tell you that." said Slade. "But I'll let you think about it. Isn't it uncanny how a bunch of new citizens have arrived in Gotham, all needing to get close to you and Jim Gordon? Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Have you ever heard of Ra's al Ghul?"

Bruce had heard the name once. His father had mentioned it to him before bed one night, but the context was a blur. He must have been too young or tired to pay attention. "I can't say I have."

Slade stood up and started pacing, the phone in his hand. "Well, he's in Gotham. He's looking for something, and when he gets it, he's going to raze Gotham from the ground up. All he needs to do is finish looking. And that something is very valuable. There will be other people who want it, but only Ra's al Ghul will destroy the city once he gets it. And what he wants is related to you, and Detective Jim Gordon."

"And you're Ra's al Ghul?"

"Now if I told you who Ra's al Ghul was, your job would be too easy."

Bruce sighed, thinking. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I am one of those people that wants what Ra's al Ghul is looking for, and I am indifferent to whether this city blows up. It's already full of crime and poverty, blowing it up might be good for the world. I just need it intact and the object secure until I can break out and get it."

Bruce hung the phone back up onto the wall. He saw Slade grinning on the other side of the glass and frowned at him, starting to leave. Slade hit the glass, making it thud, and Bruce picked the phone back up. Slade hissed his final words into the mouthpiece, "Oh, and Bruce? Don't trust anyone. They could be the one to destroy Gotham."

Bruce opened the door and left back to the main precinct to look for Alfred. He was sitting with Jim at his desk, sharing a few idle comments. He stood up when he saw Bruce, putting his hands behind his back. "Shall we go, Master Bruce?"

Jim stopped him. "Would you like to talk, Bruce? What did he say to you?"

Bruce decided to lie again. He could be putting Jim in danger if he told him too soon. "Not much. Nothing informative."

Alfred shrugged. "Well, it's been a long day, Master Bruce. I suggest we go back to Wayne manor and get some rest."

Getting in the car and exchanging a few comments during the drive, the two made it back to the manor. Bruce was the chatty one this time. He didn't want to give the impression he was worried, but he was a terrible liar. Alfred didn't want to say much, worried about Bruce.

The second Bruce got up, he headed back up to his bedroom, expecting to see Selina in the window, but she wasn't there. The girl from before that he met on the street on his date was in his bedroom rummaging through his belongings and drawers.

"Hey." he yelled quietly, trying to be polite. "That's personal."

The girl smiled. "Look, it's Bruce Wayne. Call me Talia."

"What are you doing here?"

Talia got closer until her hands were on his shoulders and her body was just grazing his. "I don't know if you know, but I live here now. Your butler can tell you more if you're having trouble sleeping at night."

Bruce didn't say anything.

"So how are you?"

"Do you know where Selina is?"

Talia tilted her head, pretending to think. "Who, the scruffy girl in the black leather?"

"Yes."

"She's gone. She left out the window, not saying a word."

Bruce shook Talia off of himself, and then grabbed a coat to go look for Selina. He had to talk to someone, and she was the only one who he wanted to talk to. Besides, she deserved to know. She was the only other witness to the murders of his parents.

 **Who is Ra's al Ghul? I want all of you to put your theories in reviews and PM so I can congratulate you on being right when I reveal it in the final chapter! One of the scenes in this was inspired by a scene from the comic Injustice Year One (Volume One) and what I think was one of the best BatCat moments ever written. Amazing comic, definitely go read it.**


	2. Home of the Demon

**Okay, I don't want to give too much away, but I'm telling you this much: I'm re-writing the continuity to fit with Gotham's universe, so Ra's al Ghul is a different person. I'll tell you this much though. He's in the first two chapters of the story. Once you finish this chapter, you would have met Ra's al Ghul; you just don't know who he is yet...**

Selina always thought of Gotham city as a castle, and she was locked inside. She looked out over the edge of Gotham city as the waves rolled over the bay of the coastline and crashed onto the walls of the city, almost like invaders trying to get in. But they couldn't. Gotham city was a fortress, and the more it kept people out with a wall of corruption and crime, the more it kept people in as well. It was like the more you wanted to escape from the chaos and the mayhem of the black streets and cement, you couldn't. It trapped you in like a castle wall and made it so you couldn't escape no matter how much you wanted to. If you did, it would always find a way to bring you back.

She had attempted to leave many, many times. Selina undid the button on her leather jacket so it hung off her body and she could breathe. She took the cloth hood off her head to free her short, scruffy hair and put her goggles in her pocket, and thought about all the times she had tried to leave. She had been to heaven, hell, and everywhere in between and something had brought her back to Gotham city. First, it was a mission, and then it was family, and opportunity, and now Bruce. She wondered if it was like that for everyone. There were ten million people in Gotham city, from crime bosses to policemen to people that would burn in hell when they died to innocent housewives whose families were gunned down in front of them, and perhaps all of them had been roped into Gotham city, and now invisible shackles were binding them to the worst city on earth.

She liked to think the shackles could be broken and the walls could be demolished, so she could take her business and leave. It was the only wishful thinking Selina had ever done.

Bruce's voice surprised her. There was no one there, so a voice made her jump. Bruce always did move quiet, maybe even quieter than her.

"Selina? Are you here?" he called out, walking down the empty street, the snow on the ground making his ears turn red and his breath visible. "Selina?"

Selina found a notch in the building she was standing on that she could jump from. She leapt off the top, grabbing onto a bar halfway down, and easing herself onto the ground. She surprised Bruce by showing up behind him. Her expression was blank. She didn't know why he was here.

"You know how many times I could've smashed your head with a brick just now?" she asked, walking closer to him. "You have to look up, kid."

Bruce turned around and took a deep breath. "The man that confessed- he didn't kill my parents. It wasn't him."

Selina nodded. "So why did he confess?"

"He said that he wanted access to me and Detective Gordon. But everyone thinks he did kill my parents. I had to talk to someone."

"Did he say why he wanted access to you and Gordon?"

Bruce hadn't thought about that question. If he told her, she would want to help. She couldn't. Every time Selina got involved in one of Bruce's problems, she had gotten hurt. If Ra's al Ghul was who Slade said he was, then he could kill everyone in the city if Bruce didn't pull the right strings. "He didn't say."

Selina sighed. "God, kiddo, how many times is this going to happen until you finally realize you're a terrible liar?"

Bruce took a deep breath. "It's a long story."

"I love stories."

"The man who confessed in the precinct, Slade Wilson, he told me that there was a man named Ra's al Ghul. He's in Gotham because he needs something relating to me and Detective Gordon. He didn't say what, but if Ra's gets it, he might destroy the city. There are a bunch of other people that want it too, but only Ra's al Ghul will destroy the city with it."

Selina nodded. "So what do you and Gordon both own?"

"I don't know. Maybe he dropped something at Wayne manor one time he was here, or maybe he gave my parents something?"

"It would help if we knew what Ra's al Ghul was looking for."

"Maybe I can research him a little bit."

"Let's go."

Bruce turned around, looking back at Selina. "No. I don't want to get anyone else involved in this."

Selina crossed her arms. "Oh, really? Well, you got me involved the second you met me, and you're not leaving me out of this one."

"Selina, I-"

"What are you going to do? Fight me?"

Bruce didn't say anything.

"That's what I thought. Now where do you want to go?"

Bruce stuttered, "Gotham Public Library."

Selina nodded, and the two started off for the walk across town. Alfred would assume that Bruce was in his room, and Talia would wait. It reminded Bruce to ask Selina.

"Selina, did you know Talia was staying at Wayne manor?"

Selina thought for a bit. Then, she remembered the name of the girl that Jim was talking about, the Ogre's daughter. "Detective Gordon told me and Alfred, but I haven't met her."

"Yeah, you have." Bruce said. "She's the girl we met on the street earlier."

Nodding, Selina pulled her hood back up and tied the goggles back over her forehead. The library was across town, and the two had to catch a cab. Selina found a taxi, and the two were driven for a few minutes until they reached the middle of the city. The library was one of the big buildings next to city hall and the Wellzyn building, so people could walk straight in. Like every other building in Gotham City, the library was old and cracked, with two statues flanking the door. It was a long ways in too, through a long hallway with a lot of paintings. The library itself was huge, with two levels and rows upon rows of shelves, all filled with books.

Bruce and Selina looked at each other.

"Shall we start under R for Ra's?" Selina asked.

"You do that. I'll find anything concerning the Waynes and Gordons."

The two must have spent the entire day looking for something on Ra's al Ghul. They tried looking at every part of his name, and every part of the Wayne and Gordon family. They tried finding something about Slade Wilson, but there was nothing. Bruce asked the librarian for something on Ra's al Ghul, but she didn't know what he was talking about.

"There's nothing here, B." Selina sighed, putting her fiftieth book back in the shelf. "Let's go home. We'd be better off asking Gordon himself."

Bruce ignored her, still looking on a computer, clicking every site he could find. Ra's al Ghul's name didn't even exist online. He was like a ghost. The thought crossed his mind that there was no Ra's al Ghul, and Slade had just told him to distract the police while he broke out. But if so, why not tell the police himself? And why make the job harder for himself?

Selina sighed, tired of Bruce's persistence. She crept down to the computer level and sat down next to him.

"My great-grandparents came to Gotham city when they started Wayne Enterprises seventy years ago." Bruce said, scrolling down the screen. "They didn't bring anything from England, except money. It says that Detective Gordon's father was the district attorney, and his father before that was a politician."

"Well, men that high in the government must have some deals with people. Maybe Slade and Ra's want something they passed down to Gordon?"

"No." Bruce turned to Selina, throwing up his arms. "I found a news article from the death of his dad in a car crash. Everything went to the government."

Selina put her arms on the table, rubbing her forehead and thinking. "How long ago was it?"

Bruce pulled up the news article. "1970. Gordon was only a kid."

Selina pulled the computer keyboard away from Bruce and typed some things into the web bar.

"What are you doing?" Bruce asked.

"Seeing who ran Gotham's government in 1970." She went through a few pages of city hall websites before coming upon an old document from 1970, signed by Don Carmine Falcone. She smiled, "So Falcone took everything Gordon's father had? There are a lot of deaths every day, and he just leaves them alone. They must have been friends."

"See if Falcone left Gordon anything before he left Gotham city."

Selina entered some things into the search bar and hit enter, showing an array of city hall records. Selina clicked on a few, and finally found a contract showing which mafia bosses owned which properties. Falcone was on it, along with Maroni and the few other lesser mob bosses, who only owned a street or two. Jim Gordon was listed among the minor mob bosses.

"It says that after Falcone left, he gave Jim Indian Hill." she read off the screen, squinting. "It's in the Arkham district. It's a toxic waste dump that's related to Ace Chemicals."

"What did he do with it?"

"It doesn't say. We could ask him."

Bruce nodded. "I'll ask him tomorrow."

The two hailed a taxi back to Wayne manor. A few minute drive after, Bruce unlocked the gate and the two of them entered the manor to find Alfred sleeping on the couch. He usually would've woken up, but Bruce and Selina were the two quietest kids in Gotham city. They crept up to their bedroom without a sound, and collapsed on the bed, tired.

Bruce, as usual, fell asleep first. A few times, Selina would stroke his soft hair and listen to his breathing as he fell asleep, his breaths calming her like a metronome. A while ago, one day while she was living on the streets, Selina learned that she didn't need to sleep more than once every week. She liked it better that way.

Selina waited until the boy was fast asleep, then slipped out from under the covers and started for the window. As quietly as she could, she slipped the window open and jumped outside, landing without a sound on her feet on the ledge below, just like a cat. She needed the air.

"Hello, Selina Kyle."

A voice made her jump, darting her head around to find a woman standing in the middle of the street, staring at her. Selina jumped from the ledge onto the snowy ground to stand across the street from the woman. It was night time, and the black hood the woman was wearing didn't help either. She looked tall, in her early thirties, maybe, and carried what looked like a sword on her belt.

"Who are you?" asked Selina, ready to break into a run at a second's notice.

The woman bowed. "My name is Shiva. I arrived in Gotham city a while ago."

"And let me guess." Selina yelled. "You want something to do with Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne?"

Shiva laughed. "To be fair, I'm not the only one. Tell me this, Selina Kyle, have you ever heard of the mystical lazarus pit?"

Selina shook her head, and then realized the woman probably couldn't see her. "No."

"Then tell me, what could be so valuable, and so important, that so many people would come to Gotham city just to get it for themselves?"

Selina shrugged. "Money?"

Shiva laughed uproariously, taking off her hood. Selina still couldn't see much in the night, but Shiva's long black hair went down to her shoulders. "You can get money anywhere. But what could pull people to Gotham city, of all places. What could make people risk their lives for a hole in the ground?"

Selina didn't respond.

"In the bible, Lazarus was the brother of Mary. He died, but Jesus, he was kind. He gave Brother Lazarus a priceless gift beyond the powers of any other mortal and raised him from the dead. Lazarus now had another life."

"You're saying a Lazarus pit can raise people from the dead?"

"Among other things. Most importantly, though, if it is used on an old human, they will become young again. They will be given a second chance at life. Isn't that worth risking your life and coming to Gotham city for?"

Selina sighed. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm playing a game. I'm playing it with every other person who knows of the lazarus pit and wants its rejuvenating powers. The object of the game? Who can sabotage the others without foiling their own plan? I figured that people knowing what lies in the possession of Jim Gordon will likely be a boulder in the path of some of my competitors."

"But it won't foil your plan?"

"I'm done in Gotham the minute I find the pit. I have no concern for the people of the city."

Shiva bowed, and then turned away and walked back up the street, disappearing into the darkness, leaving Selina in the yard outside Wayne manor. She looked back up at the window in Bruce's bedroom, watching the curtain wave through the glass. With that, she ran for the street, feeling the cold air brush against her face, and grabbed on to the side of a building. The rest was a quiet, peaceful, tranquil blur.

Bruce woke up the next morning, still tired and sore. He reached for Selina in the dark, but noticed she was gone again. He got up, hanging his legs over the side of the bed, and swung the curtains open to reveal a burning white sun that threatened to melt the snow on the ground, the sun rays shining through the clouds like water through a silo.

Talia came through the door with a grin. "Alfred put me sleeping in the guest room. Where have you been?"

Bruce turned around, stuttering. "I was with Selina."

Talia nodded, pretending to believe him. "Ah. So I'm guessing you went to Indian Hill with her, since that's what you've been murmuring in your sleep?"

"How did you hear?"

"I came in every once in a while. You're not a particularly quiet murmurer."

Bruce sighed. "I was going to go to the precinct today and meet Detective Gordon."

"I'm coming with you. The fact that you're asking an authority figure about your case must mean you don't know much more than me."

"What make you think-"

"The case files on your mommy and daddy? You know way more than the police, just so you know."

Bruce looked to the case files on his desk and bulletin board, and then crossed his arms defensively. "Those are private. I don't want you looking at them."

Talia laughed. "Relax, Rich Boy. Who would I tell? Besides, I wouldn't. My parents are dead too, though I'll admit I'm slightly less depressed about it than you."

Bruce didn't say anything.

"My mother was killed by my father the second I was born. Word is he stabbed her in the hospital bed I was born in, and then made off with me before the doctors could even get back. I lived with my aunt for most of my life. I only saw my father once that I could remember, when he visited when I was six. He was like a stranger. Like a person I had never met before coming to me, and I was supposed to love him. Then he died, and here I am."

"Jim Gordon shot your father through the skull." Bruce said. "You shouldn't see him."

Talia shot Bruce a sarcastic smirk. "Funny how life works, isn't it? Your parents got shot by a criminal; mine get shot by a policeman. You're here in this mansion wearing satin pyjamas with a butler and a hot-ass girlfriend, and I don't have a home anymore. But my parents were rich. We both started in the same place, so why are we so different, just because of who shot our parents?"

Bruce shook his head. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

He walked past Talia, not even brushing across her shoulder, and she turned around. She put both her hands on his collarbone and pulled him in, touching his lips to hers. She felt his warm, soft lips touch hers, and sucked on his bottom lip before he could even react. Bruce pulled away, looking at Talia in shock. She grinned, and skipped out the door down the stairs, calling to him. "Didn't you say we were going to see Detective Gordon?"

 **Sorry this chapter was so short, but it felt like an appropriate place to end a chapter. I've been really busy lately, and I promise chapter three will be out sooner than this one was. Also, I've started on a new story centered on a conversation between Bruce and Jerome that I really like, so hopefully you'll read that one. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Gate of the Demon

Selina saw Shiva again. She could see everything from the top of her usual perch at the top of the police precinct. She liked the idea that the police couldn't find her when she was right above their heads, almost tantalizingly close for them if they had known. From atop the building, holding onto one of the spires and leaning down to the ground below, she saw Shiva entering the GCPD.

From high up, Selina couldn't see Shiva well, but she knew it was her. If she was asked to describe her, she couldn't, but it was undoubtedly the same woman who was outside the manor last night. Instead of the dark hood and sword, she was dressed in a woman's suit, with her long black hair tied in a bun behind her head. Selina thought about what she could be doing. Jim Gordon could be in there. So could Professor Optico, the consultant.

Selina waited for Shiva to make her way inside, and then back out a few minutes later. Shiva didn't take her time, appearing to rush into the building, and only took a minute inside the precinct before rushing back outside at a fast walking pace and turning the corner of the street, disappearing behind a building.

A few more people came in and out of the precinct before she saw Bruce and Talia coming down the street. As usual, Bruce didn't look up while he was walking in a crowded place, so Selina wasn't spotted. She watched the two enter the building, and she crawled across the roof until she reached the precinct's sun roof so she could peer in at the two.

They were talking to Detective Gordon. Bruce looked kind of alarmed, and they sat down. Then, Selina saw Optico, standing with Gordon. He was dressed casually, with big glasses over his eyes and a gun in his hands, weighing it. Selina took her cue to go inside in case Optico was dangerous.

She slid down the wall and landed on her feet on the snowy ground. The first person she met coming out of the cold and into the precinct was Detective Bullock, who grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked. "The last thing I expected today was seeing Selina Kyle walk towards the GCPD."

Selina sneered at Bullock and shook herself free. Bruce hadn't noticed her yet. Selina slowly inched closer and closer, not wanting to disrupt whatever Gordon was saying, and she heard the door open behind her. Her head darted back and she saw Shiva coming back in. Selina's walking pace slowly got faster and faster, and all of a sudden, there was a grunt behind her. She turned around to find Bullock sliding to the ground with his hand over the bloody bullet hole in his chest.

The entire precinct was jolted awake. Shiva grabbed the nearest policeman to her and held a knife to his throat, forcing the police not to pull their triggers.

"Selina!" Bruce yelled as loud as he could, and she darted back around to find Optico aiming a gun for Gordon's head. Jim turned as fast as humanly possible, knocking the gun out of his hand with his elbow and flipping Optico over his shoulder. Behind Selina, Shiva burst into action, slitting the throat of the guard in her arms and running to Gordon, dodging the bullets of the cops firing at her. Selina felt the wind making her hair fly as Shiva dashed past her running to Jim with a sword in her hands.

It all happened in slow motion. It was an instinct that had been ingrained into Selina since the moment she stepped foot on the streets as a child. Her hand reached to the desk beside her and cocked it up faster than any of the cops in the precinct. Gordon reached for the gun on his belt, but by the time he got it out, Shiva would've cut his throat. Selina aimed with deadly precision and pulled the trigger.

Selina grew up on the streets. Her reflexes were exact enough to walk on a razor blade. She felt the gunshot in the handle, bursting from the barrel and exploding around it. The bullet flew through the air like a lightning bolt, faster than the eye could see and finally met its mark, straight into Shiva's back, and straight behind her heart.

Shiva tumbled on her own feet, crashing to the ground in front of Jim, her sword falling to the ground with a loud shattering sound that quieted the room. Selina dropped the gun as she noticed Bruce's face from across the room, and darted straight for the door. She knew that face; it was the same face he made when he witnessed her first kill. Selina pushed the door open and climbed up the side of the building, disappearing from sight. She didn't need another lecture.

Behind her, she heard some loud rustling and commotion as the policemen tried to figure out what was happening and Jim was picking up Optico to throw in a cell. A few perps came in, presumably to pick up Shiva's body. Selina scaled the wall to perch at the top of the building, almost perching on the edge to see everything that was happening when Bruce came out.

"Selina!" he called out, looking everywhere outside. "Selina!" some people brushed past his shoulder, and Selina considered going back down. Why though? She didn't have to answer her own question when Bruce finally remembered what she told him a long time ago and looked up at the roof of the precinct.

As soon as Bruce's eyes wandered up to the roof, Selina bolted back down the wall and ran down the street as fast as she could, followed by Bruce.

Selina found a fence and hoisted herself over it with one swift motion, closing it behind her to cut off Bruce's trail. She kept running, and saw Bruce trying to climb the fence out of the corner of her eye. She didn't want to be caught. After that, she just wanted to be left alone.

There was a quiet drop on the concrete when Bruce's feet hit the ground on the other side of the fence, and Selina knew to run faster. She found a building with a stairwell and started to climb. She went higher and higher up the stairs and ladders and knew she was gaining distance when Bruce stopped at the base of the stairwell, dazed.

Selina stopped at the sight of the boy looking up at her. She looked down at him, but shrugged it off. The last thing she needed was someone talking to her. She climbed up to the very top of the building and stood on the snowy, flat peak she was about to jump from. That only made her freeze in her tracks. The memories rendered her unable to move or think about anything else. The memory of when Bruce jumped off a roof for her.

Bruce finally made his way up the stairwell and stopped at the sight of Selina hanging her head and slowly turning back. Finally, he had her.

"You did it again." he said, his voice wavering. Selina couldn't tell if he was angry or sad. Perhaps both. "How could you do it again?"

Selina sighed and crept closer to him. "I did what I had to do. If I didn't, Shiva would've probably been killed anyway, except she would've killed a few more cops before someone finally shot her. Given the options of the lives of some cops and a killer who was trying to murder Jim Gordon, I shot Shiva through the heart."

"You didn't have to." Bruce's voice was a whisper. "There were other ways.

"Yeah? Well as soon as you think of one that saved as many lives as I did, let me know."

That shut Bruce up a bit. Selina took the silence as a cue to leave, but Bruce reached out to her, grabbing her arm and making her shy away.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Where do you think? I'm out of here. I'm not going to be here when Ra's al Ghul or whoever blows up Gotham city."

Bruce looked devastated. "You can't! We have to catch Ra's al Ghul or else Gotham blows up."

"No, you do. I don't owe these bums anything."

"How can you say that?"

Selina jerked herself free from Bruce's grip and sighed. "Listen, let's be real. This was never going to work."

"Yes it can, all we need is to dig a little more. We'll go to city hall and see if Ra's left any records so we can-"

"No, not Ra's, I meant this! I meant us, together, this is what's not working."

Bruce froze in his place, the pain in his eyes becoming evident. Selina almost felt bad for him, but he had to know. Bruce gasped slowly, his breath condensating from the cold as he breathed out, "I- I don't understand."

Selina was ready to scream. How could Bruce be so naive? "Listen close, B. Let's not pretend anymore. You were pretending I was a perfect nice girl and I was pretending that you could accept me, well let's get real for once here. You hate the real me, and I can't stand the real you, so don't get attached, kid. Go home and save the city if you want, just don't expect any more help from me."

Bruce was completely shattered. He looked like he was about to cry, but Selina just turned back. She wasn't going to feel an ounce of guilt for the truth. She simply refused to feel bad for what had to be done. Leaving Bruce on the roof, she turned her back to him and leapt off the roof, catching ledges and ladders on her way down and landing on her feet a few inches into the snow.

 _Don't look back,_ she thought. _You don't have anything to feel guilty for._

The horizon was right there in front of her, but yet so far out of reach. Could she do it? Could Selina Kyle finally leave Gotham city? If not Bruce, what was holding her back? But she couldn't pretend she had completely forgotten about Bruce. How could she?

Bruce stepped down the staircase and back onto solid ground. He looked back in case there was any chance of Selina reappearing, maybe still standing there, feeling the same way he was. Of course, there wasn't. Selina was gone.

Talia emerged from behind the corner, a look of worry on her face. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Bruce said, trying to smile. Who was he kidding? His fake smile made it all the more obvious something was wrong. He couldn't hold it in any longer. A single tear escaped from his eye and ran down his cheek onto the frozen ground. "Selina is gone."

Talia crept ever closer as Bruce began to break down. They could feel each other's heat, reverberating off of each other, their arms wrapping around each other, and finally, their lips.

 _Why had I kissed Talia?_ Bruce asked himself over and over on the way home, the girl on his arm, looking straight ahead, glancing sideways at him every once in a while. _Perhaps it was just the spur-of-the-moment. Perhaps she felt sorry for me. Or maybe she really did like me, and I liked her back._

"So, what's next?" Talia asked, trying to snap Bruce out of his daze. He was too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear her at first, so she had to repeat, "What's next?"

Bruce was jolted awake, and for a while, didn't know what to say. "Indian Hill. Detective Gordon sold it to Wayne Enterprises. It all makes perfect sense. It's why Shiva didn't kill him. Whatever everyone is looking for is at Indian Hill."

"Okay, so we know where it is. What do we do?"

"You saw what Detective Gordon said. The police are never going to guard it. We just have to go there and destroy it. Ra's al Ghul won't destroy Gotham if he can't find what he wants."

Talia nodded. "So where to, Boss?"

"I'll get some shovels from Wayne manor. If it's a pit, maybe we can fill it in."

They were both silent for a long time, until Talia stopped him in his tracks. "I'm sorry about Selina."

"It's okay." Bruce said, looking down. "She was right. It wouldn't have worked out."

"Bruce." Talia said, her head turning forward. Bruce looked up, and found they were at the gate of Wayne manor, with Alfred lying unconscious on the grass, blood on his forehead, and message spray painted on the door reading, "Stop looking, or someone dies."

Selina sat at the edge of the bay, on the top of the port. It was the last building on the edge of Gotham before the boats started to head for other cities. It was the very edge of the city. She had been so afraid to step over the line before, and now she worried that if she did, she wouldn't be able to turn back.

 _If I left Gotham city,_ she thought, _Could I ever turn back?_ After all, nothing was holding her back anymore. But why then was it so hard to leave? What was holding her back? She had just been so angry at Bruce, and she said everything that had been bottled up for the past year. Did she mean all of it?

She had to see Bruce again. Just one last time before she left the city for good and was done with all the chaos forever. He seemed so destroyed the last time they met. She had to see him one last time for good so she could leave knowing everything was okay. She didn't think anyone had ever cared for her as much as Bruce. She would never rest at night if she didn't at least acknowledge the favor.

Selina pulled up her hood and prepared for one last trip to Wayne manor. She stood up and faced into the city from her perch, looking down at all the smog and crime in the streets. It was going to be the last time for sure. She felt so ashamed to have once been a part of it all. Selina jumped down and landed on her feet, looking back at the bay. It was so tempting, but it would have to wait. She started down the road to Wayne manor.

 _No._ She thought, staring at Wayne manor from where she stood. Selina climbed the fence and landed on the other side, running into the wreckage. The house was completely destroyed. The entire bottom wall had almost been ripped out, and the spray painted words on the wall were only barely recognizable. The lights were off, and the furniture was in shambles. But where was Bruce?

"Alfred!" Selina yelled. She had ran into the mansion and noticed the movement in the corner of the room. Alfred was lying in the corner, a comfy chair pinning him to the floor. Selina shoved the chair off of him and flipped him over. He didn't seem to be injured, but there was a gash on his forehead and it looked like his arm was broken. There were a few bruises all over him.

"Some- someone was here." Alfred groaned, sweating and panting. "They-."

"What happened?" Selina asked.

"There was- was someone here. He- they brought men. Tore up the- the place. Where's Master Bruce?"

Selina darted up and looked around, desperately searching for any signs of Bruce. She ran up the stairs to what remained of his bedroom, but he wasn't there. Selina searched every inch of the manor, but Bruce was gone. The sickening thought entered her mind that it was Talia. Of course, she was looking for the pit too. And of course she was going to find it. Bruce had done all the detective work for her.

She heard a rustling from downstairs and rushed to go see what it was. Alfred had gotten onto his feet and was talking to Detective Gordon on the phone. The whole affair wasn't going to be a secret from the police much longer.

"Detective Gordon?" Alfred said on the phone. "Someone broke into Wayne manor. Master Bruce and Miss Lennon are gone."

Detective Gordon said something that brought a shocked expression to Alfred's face, and Selina had to ask, "What's he saying?"

"He says that Optico is in jail right now. He has no idea where Master Bruce is."

No, it couldn't be. Selina had to talk to him right away. She rushed out to the garage with Alfred to find that one of the cars was still intact, and they got in. Alfred started driving her to the precinct, where Detective Gordon was waiting. Selina never imagined she would be this worried about Bruce. She never knew she could love someone that much. And if he died, the last thing he would remember was the fight they had.

Of course their relationship would never work. But she loved him, and he loved her.

Detective Gordon was waiting on the steps and ran to the car to meet Alfred. Alfred rolled down the window, and Selina crept closer to listen in.

"Where's Optico?" asked Selina.

"He was taken to jail after Shiva broke into the precinct. He's at Blackgate right now."

"With Slade Wilson?"

"I suppose so. Why, what's wrong?"

Selina told Jim everything. Alfred listened in, not able to say anything from shock. If Bruce was there, he would've tried to keep her silent. Jim had to know, though. Selina told him about the Lazarus pit, and that Bruce knew about it. She told him that they were searching for it, and Bruce might have worked out where it was. And if Talia knew as much as he did...

"Talia is fifteen years old." Jim said. "If Ra's al Ghul is who you say he is, how could it be her?"

Selina sighed, annoyed at explaining everything. "If there was a pit that made you young again, wouldn't it make sense that it turned you into a child again? Besides, Ra's isn't the only one who knows about it. There are a bunch of other people that want it just as bad."

"Like who?"

"As far as we know? It could be anyone. Slade Wilson, Shiva, Optico, Penguin, Bullock, anyone. But Talia was the one who kidnapped Bruce. She's almost got her hands on the pit, and Bruce doesn't even know what she's looking for."

"We can't stop that many people."

"And one of them is Ra's al Ghul, and will destroy the city if they get it. And to add to all that, you made it worse by putting two of our prime suspects in the same place together."

Gordon sighed, disappointed, and looked back up at Selina. "Can we just destroy it? End the search for all of them?"

"If we do that, Ra's could just raze the city out of anger. We just have to catch Ra's al Ghul."

Jim nodded. "The last time I saw Bruce, I mentioned Indian Hill. I sold it to the Waynes. It must be where Talia took him."

Jim got into the car, and they started off for Indian Hill.

 **Any more guesses for the identity of Ra's al Ghul? Also, let me just say that if Theo Galavan is Ra's al Ghul, Gotham is using my plot!**


	4. Spawn of the Demon

Selina's chest felt like collapsing. The more she thought about Bruce and what could be happening to him, the more her heart welled up in her chest until she wanted to stop it from beating completely. Remnants of a tear began to well up in her eye, and she turned away from Jim sitting beside her. She didn't need him there seeing her like that.

It was her fault Bruce was in trouble. He went off on his own with Talia because of her, and if he died, the last thing he would remember was their fight. The last thing Selina would remember of him would be his crying face and his body threatening to concave on itself, how devastated he looked when she told him what she wanted to. It was selfish. He didn't need to hear it. Selina just needed to say it. It was hard for her to be around him, but at the same time, she couldn't want anything more.

Jim pointed to mid-street while Alfred swerved the car down the snowy alley. Slush on the ground made the tires screech and graze the edge of the sidewalk. Selina was jerked forward by the motion, and she wanted to strangle Alfred for it. If not for her ego overcoming her id, she would have. Out the window, she noticed the car was heading back to Wayne manor, and that drove her over the edge.

"Why are we going to the GCPD?" Selina asked, her voice a half-whisper, half-scowl. "We should be going to Indian Hill."

Jim sighed, apparently more invested in his conversation with Alfred. "I suggest we form a perimeter around Indian Hill. We force them to tell us where Bruce is, then we milk them for all they've got."

"Bad idea, Detective." Selina growled, forcing Jim's attention towards her. "Come on, it's a freaking pit that makes you young again! If you were a psychopath with the goal of living forever, would you be at all fazed by a bunch of drunk cops with baseball bats?"

"Yeah, well you're not a cop, are you, Miss Kyle?" Alfred intervened. "Now, Detective Gordon, how many men can we get? We're going to bring the entire damn GCPD if we're listening to me."

Of course Selina was always the smartest person in the room. She punched the seat in front of her and screamed at the top of her lungs, "And what will the _entire damn GCPD_ do once the maniacs kill Bruce and become immortal?! Huh?!"

That shut Jim and Alfred up long enough for Selina to make some progress with them.

"Listen, just get me to Indian Hill. A friend of mine grew up there, so I know the schematics. I'll sneak in, find Bruce, and come back out and tell you guys the situation. If I can free him, you call the cops and kill everyone in the place. Got it?"

Jim and Alfred looked back and forth between each other. Neither of them wanted to admit it was the best plan. Alfred stared forward and kept driving. His last words before committing to silence were, "For the record, Miss Kyle, I want to save Master Bruce just as much as you do."

"How's Bullock?" Selina asked Jim. After her plan got out, some of the venom melted from her eyes enough to sound sympathetic. She remembered what happened to Jim's partner with Shiva at the GCPD.

Jim's eyes went down as he forced a half-smile. "He's in the hospital, fighting for his life."

Selina nodded. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't know you cared about Bruce so much."

It was time to be honest with herself, and to be completely, painfully honest, Selina didn't either. She spent so much of her life trying to push people away, and suddenly, she got so close to someone so fast. Suddenly, someone had leverage on her, and it was destroying her.

Indian Hill crept closer and closer over the buildings until it loomed over them. Selina didn't feel one bit of the fear or regret Jim was implying she should be feeling with his eyes. Bruce was in there. She could feel it.

Indian hill was surrounded by a metal fencing. It might have been electric at one point, but it didn't look like anything was running inside. There was a big central building surrounded by a couple separate offices for power and business, all with locked doors. Selina jumped out of the car and gingerly poked at the fence with a finger to see if it was electric. If it was, the current had long stopped running. The metal was completely cold.

"Now, Selina." Jim said to Selina's back. "If Bruce is alone, get him out of there. If he isn't I don't want you thinking for one second you can take on a guard. We don't know what they're packing."

"This isn't my first rodeo, Jimbo." Selina growled. Jim handed her a walky-talky, and she tucked it away in her jacket. She grabbed onto the fence, locking her fingers into the metal wire, and hoisted herself off the ground. It was hard to find a place to put her feet, but there were wider notches in places she had to feel around for. Once she had gotten to the top, she put her legs over the side and jumped down, stopping and letting her body absorb the impact of the ground before standing up.

"Miss Kyle," Alfred said. "Bring back Master Bruce."

The two adults watched Selina slink up the side of the main building and onto the roof. She tore the metal off a vent and placed it on the roof softly as to not make any noise to alert the inside, and worked herself in.

When Selina dropped through the vent and landed silently at the bottom, she found herself a few meters off the ground, staring through an air duct at an office inside the main building. There didn't seem to be any power at all in the place, and no one was walking around. Selina grabbed the bars of the vent and popped it out, bringing it softly next to her and dropping down onto the ground. She was inside Indian Hill. She looked around her. It was quiet. Even if a person was completely silent, Selina could usually sense them. There was no one there.

She decided to go exploring when no one came to her. There were no workers or guards there, and the place was completely deserted. She decided to go in a circular pattern around the center so she would hit every room along the way, and eventually go down the stairs.

It was when she hit the third floor down that she sensed other people. They were below ground, and that was troubling. First off, it would be harder for the police to detect an explosion from underground.

Still, there was no sound, but a feeling told her there were other people with her on the floor. She never stopped being wary. Finally, she turned a corner and found Bruce, tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. He seemed unconscious.

Selina inched closer, checking all around her for whoever did this to Bruce. On one hand, she was relieved that he was okay, but on the other hand, she wasn't sure he was. There was a footstep which set her off, and she turned to see Talia Lennon. That wasn't good. Normally, she could sense people long before she heard their footsteps.

"Don't damage the merchandise." Talia said.

Selina felt nothing but anger for Talia. "I don't know what the hell you want, but what did kidnapping Bruce accomplish?"

"Nothing." Talia breathed. "The accomplishing part comes later." She was inching forth, but the tone in her voice wasn't hostile at all. It was more sympathetic.

Selina growled, "Cool, well I'm taking Bruce, and the cops are going to arrest your ass later."

Talia stood in her place, her face completely devoid of emotion. Selina walked towards Bruce and started to undo the ropes, the entire time burning with anger at what Talia had done. She hadn't even finished untying Bruce when she decided the bitch didn't even deserve being arrested.

"You know what?" Selina asked, turning around and storming towards Talia. "Why don't we skip the arresting part and just kill you right now?" Selina channeled all her feelings into her fist, drew it back, and hit Talia right under her cheekbone. Selina could feel her knuckles sliding into the inundation under Talia's cheekbone, and she loved it.

She drew back for another punch when Talia's knee came up and hit Selina right below the stomach. Selina's entire body shook and she lurched backwards to absorb the blow, the pressure in her stomach making her cough. Talia's arm came back for a hit, but Selina caught her fist. Talia wrenched her arm free and jerked backwards.

The two swiped and kicked at each other, both of them reacting purely on instinct. Both of them had enough fighting experience to know exactly how to react to anything the other did. Occasionally, one of them would land a hit, and after a while, it seemed like Talia was landing more. Selina knew she was being worn out fast and had to get Bruce. She brought her leg up and landed a hit right above Talia's nose and ran straight for Bruce in the chair. Talia didn't follow.

Selina untied the ropes around Bruce's body. The noise had woke him up, and his eyes were flitting open.

"S-Selina?" Bruce mumbled. "What are you doing here?"

Selina didn't respond. She was too focused on Talia, slowly inching forward.

"I know where it is now." Talia said, her voice hollow and expressionless, as if she didn't care about anything she was saying. "I have the location of the Lazarus pit."

"Good for you." Selina said, still panting from the effort of the fight. "Can we go now?"

"I thought you'd be happier." Talia breathed.

Selina laughed a bit. "Why? 'Cause now we know who's going to screw over this city?"

"Except I'm not Ra's al Ghul."

"Fan-freaking-tastic." Selina scowled. "Then end this. Do whatever to your pit and leave this city."

"I can't do that. Why would I want the pit? Life has been cruel to me. My father is a sociopath, so why would I want to prolong my living?"

"Wait." Selina said. She stopped for a long time to understand everything she had heard. "You said 'is.' Jason Lennon is dead. He wasn't really your father, was he?"

Talia didn't say anything.

"Who's your father? Is it Ra's al Ghul?"

Talia didn't move or speak or breath for the longest time, almost as if to torture Selina. Once she did, it was only a hairline smirk on her face, which was enough for Selina.

"Tell me who your father is. We'll kill him." Selina left Bruce's side and crept closer and closer to Talia. "We'll help you escape from him."

Talia let out the smallest laugh. "How are you going to kill him when at any time, one of his men could dump his body in a Lazarus pit, and he'd come back even stronger, and more insane. They're all wrong about these pits, Selina. Sure, they bring you back to life, but it's not even you that comes out of the pit. You change. When my dad was stabbed and I got him to a Lazarus pit, I thought I was going to see him again. All I saw rise out was a monster that looked like my father."

Selina nodded. "Why did you kidnap Bruce?"

"While he was unconscious, I injected him with a serum that makes you talk in your sleep. He spilled everything he knew, everything he did, his Wayne Enterprises Net password,"

"What did you want with his Net password?"

Talia took a deep breath. "Sure, I know where the pit is. How to access it is a different story, and to do that, I have to talk to the owners of Indian Hill."

 _Wayne Enterprises._ Selina thought. Talia didn't even look like she was going to hurt them. It looked like she just needed the pit for whatever reason she did. As Bruce was waking up, Talia left out of the room. Selina heard her go up some stairs, and it sounded like she was leaving the place. It almost pained Selina that she had to do what she needed to.

 _Sorry, Talia._ Selina thought, before taking her walky-talky out of her pocket and clicking onto Jim's channel. She held it up to her mouth and said, "Jim, Alfred, Talia is coming up the stairs. Put cuffs on her. She's the one that kidnapped Bruce."

"Is Bruce all right?" Jim asked.

Selina nodded. "Yeah. I'm bringing him up now."

As she put the walky-talky back in her pocket, Bruce started talking. It looked as if he was sleep-talking, since his eyes were still closed, but it was clear he knew everything that was happening around him.

"Selina..." Bruce mumbled. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Selina took a deep breath and knelt down to stare Bruce in the face. "Bruce, I'm sorry. I said some things I shouldn't have, but I guess I was just... scared. I care about you, you know. So far, everyone I get close to abandons me, and I guess I was just scared that would happen again. I'm just... not used to trusting someone."

Bruce's limp body stirred in his seat. A pale hand came up and Selina put her fingers around it. Bruce sighed, "I love you, Selina. I trust you with my life."

"Bruce, when I heard you got kidnapped, I was so worried. I thought you were going to die, and the only thing I thought about is the fight we had. I'm not scared anymore. I trust you, and I'm stronger for it."

"You are." Bruce breathed, his eyes starting to open again. "That... that serum Talia was talking about. It made me talk in my sleep and tell her everything because it made me think about you. It was... I don't know. I can't describe it, but I just feel stronger when you're with me."

Selina nodded. "I thought of you, you know. When I was climbing in here, I was thinking about you and it made me strong. I couldn't live with myself if you died and I chased you away because I was a coward."

"It's okay." Bruce said, gripping his fingers around Selina's hand a bit tighter.

Selina laughed, and tilted her head up just a bit to kiss Bruce's lips. She felt his face was trembling. She whispered into his mouth, "Just so you know, I'm getting a little tired of saving your ass."

Bruce smiled a bit. Selina waited until he had worked up the strength to stand, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He leaned on her as she led him up the stairs and back outside. The cold air stung his face, and as soon as he was sighted, Alfred ran up and helped his child into the car. Once Bruce was safely adjusted in the front seat, Alfred turned back to Selina.

"Thank you, Miss Kyle." Alfred said.

Selina nodded, and got in with Bruce. Jim got in the front seat and started driving back to Wayne Manor.

Bruce had started to regain a bit more consciousness and was leaning on the window. Selina helped him up and started some conversation to make sure he wouldn't fall asleep again. Her voice helped him stay connected to the world. Halfway through, Jim received a call on his cell phone from Detective Alvarez and had to pick it up. Bruce and Selina were shocked at how fast Jim could make a U-turn straight for Blackgate Penitentiary.

"What's wrong?" Alfred asked.

Jim got a little more information from Alvarez and turned to Bruce and Selina. "Richard Optico is dead and Slade Wilson just escaped."

Selina looked between the adults, confused. "This can't be a coincidence. What happened?"

"They were together during transport. The guards say Optico gave Wilson a knife he had managed to smuggle in. Slade used the knife to kill the guards, kill Optico, and escape. We don't know where he is."

It all made perfect sense. Of course, Selina was the only one who knew. She thought for a while, and glared at Jim. "Tell Alvarez to run a check on Talia Wilson."

Jim looked confused. "Who?"

"When Talia kidnapped Bruce, she told me the Ogre wasn't her real dad. She's out looking for the Lazarus pit at the same time Slade Wilson escapes from Blackgate, you do the math."

Jim sighed, and turned his radio back on. "Alvarez, run a background check on Talia Wilson." He turned back to Selina. "Anything else you found out in there?"

"Talia said something about Wayne Enterprises. That's where Slade is going, I know it."

Jim rubbed his temples and talked into the radio again. "Give me all available units at Wayne Enterprises, we have a lead on Slade Wilson."

"Be careful." Selina said. "If Talia's going to be there, I-" Selina almost bit off her tongue as she was jerked forward when the car swerved along the street. She leaned forward in that split second to see someone was on the roof of the car and had stabbed something into the hood. The man in black on the hood of the car jumped off a nanosecond before the car went flying into the side of a building, and Selina's ears blew out from the explosion. Jim and Alfred, both sitting in the front, were blasted backwards when the windshield shattered into pieces, and the force of the impact made Selina's head jerk back so suddenly, her head felt faint. Then, she started to black out.

The car door slid open just a bit before completely falling off the hinge. Her vision was blurry, but it was obvious the man that had crashed the car and was standing in front of her with a sword was Slade Wilson. Slade seemed much more focused on the unconscious Bruce than her. The kid must have passed out from shock.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne. Nice to see you again." Slade said. "I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm going to need you to come with me."


	5. Wrath of the Demon

It was like everything before had been a dream. It was as if nothing had happened when Selina woke up with a pain that threatened to split her head in two. She felt the floor beneath her, tapping it with her knuckles a few times to make sure it was real. Everything around her was hazy.

When Selina came to, she realized that she was in a dark room. She was lying on the floor in her black undershirt and ripped jeans. Her jacket had been taken. No one else was around. It took a while to remember what had happened, but when her memories flooded back, Selina was revitalized with a loathe for Slade Wilson.

She could see enough to know she was in the Wayne Enterprises building. There was a Wayne logo on the door and the room was made of white concrete and metal. There was a metal lab table in the corner and a few lab coats hanging on the wall to suggest it was a supply closet, but other than that the place was empty. Selina stood up, her hands fumbling along the walls for a light switch, and she found one next to the door. It activated the one light bulb on the ceiling, providing a dim light. Then, her eyes went straight to the door.

The door needed a key. Selina didn't do anything for a long time, waiting for an idea to come about how to escape. She looked around for anything to pick the lock with, but there was nothing. She turned out every pocket in the room, but nothing even came close to being able to pick the lock. There was nothing to climb on and nothing that could break the door down. Slade had made sure that she wouldn't be able to escape. After hours passed, she had started yelling and banging on the door.

She could tell the sun was going down and knew that Bruce was somewhere with Slade, while Alfred and Gordon were probably dead. God, she had to escape.

Before she knew what had happened, the door swung open and at the door stood a Wayne Enterprises worker clutching the open wound over his side.

Selina stepped out of the room and found four workers on the ground, lying in puddles of their own blood. The only living worker, the one who let her out, collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, and Selina crouched down to put a hand over his wound.

"There was a man." The worker grunted. Selina knew he wasn't going to make it. "He tore through us."

Selina sighed, "It's okay. Where is he?"

"He's on the top floor. Bruce Wayne..." Selina felt his last breath leave his body as his eyes closed and his body went limp in her arms. Selina had to save Bruce, or she would lose everything.

The power was still on, so she found the nearest elevator and took it up to the top floor of Wayne Enterprises. Through the clear glass walls of the elevator, she saw the people that Slade had killed strewn along the building. When they saw her going up the building, they smiled. They would die knowing their killer was going to prison, and Selina had to honour that.

"No." Selina whispered. When she got to the top floor, there was no one there, not even any bodies. It was quiet enough to make her fear every step she took and the only evidence that anyone was still there was a safe that was wide open with nothing inside.

She read the label on the safe, "Indian Hill Top Access," and knew that a key had to be there. It was opened by a fingerprint sensitive keypad. Slade wasn't even trying to cover up his plan. He kidnapped Bruce to get the key out of a safe in Wayne Enterprises, and now they were going back to Indian Hill to give the person who killed everyone in the building seventy more years to live.

She couldn't save Bruce alone. She needed help. Selina took the elevator back down and ran to the parking garage. After all her years on the streets, she knew had to know how to hotwire a car or she would have died a long time ago.

If Jim and Alfred were alive, they'd be at the precinct trying to find Bruce. Selina drove herself down the street to the GCPD, and it seemed like the entire city was empty. What could Slade have done?

Through the still quiet, the precinct seemed like a haven. There was no one on the outside, and it looked like the inside was empty too. Selina almost jumped out of the moving car and ran in through the front door. There was no one inside either. She wandered around like it was a ghost town, a mirage of what her city used to be. Gotham was going to hell, and Gordon and Alfred were gone.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" she sighed, her body shaking. Selina jumped when she heard something in the back, like someone talking.

It was the interrogation room. Selina rushed back there and almost laughed with relief when she saw Alfred and Jim together, with bandages over their multiple wounds. Jim was clutching his arm in pain, while Alfred was screaming and punching Shiva, who was sitting handcuffed in the chair.

"Who took Bruce-" Alfred yelled, before being stopped by the sight of Selina Kyle standing in the doorway.

Jim ran over and put his hands on Selina's shoulders. Usually, Selina would resent that, but for some reason, she didn't. "Where's Bruce?"

"Slade Wilson used him to grab a key from Wayne Enterprises and ran off to Indian Hill. I got locked in a closet. What have you been doing?"

Alfred scowled, "We've been busting our asses to find him as well, if it's not obvious. Let's go."

"No." Selina said. "Slade killed twenty employees at Wayne Enterprises. We need backup or else we'll die."

Jim shook his head, "An emergency broadcast sounded a few hours ago and most of the city is in the docks trying to evacuate. The rest of the GCPD is trying to keep them under control. They don't know about Wilson, so we're on our own."

Selina's head darted back to the interrogation table when Shiva started laughing. She could have gone her entire life without hearing her eerie, demented laugh. She grinned, blood on her teeth from the interrogation, "Slade Wilson?"

"Do you know him?" Jim asked.

Shiva looked up. "In the east where he works, people call him Stroke because he gets his enemies with just one stroke of his sword. That doesn't matter anyways. The rest of the hunters aren't stupid. They'll have found out a Lazarus Pit is being hidden in Indian Hill and are probably there already waiting for him to deliver the key. Bruce Wayne is not getting out of there alive. Once a Lazarus Pit is used, it cannot be used again. If you let me go, you'll have one more shot at its user not being Stroke."

"Nice try there, mate." Alfred growled, and turned back to Jim and Selina. "There's our backup."

Jim sighed, "Selina, you have to stay behind."

"Oh, kiss my ass, Jim." Selina scowled, and ran back to the front of the building to beat them to the car.

Meanwhile, at Indian Hill, Bruce had been drugged. He was mostly paralyzed so that all he could do was blink and breathe. More than that, the drug forced him to remember Selina, who Slade was using to bend Bruce to his will. Slade was dragging him out of the car and to the front of Indian Hill. Behind them, Talia and ten other mindless goons that worked for Slade followed. All the henchmen were holding rifles and Talia was holding a knife and a handgun, but all Slade held was a sword in his belt.

"Can you move your fingers?" Slade asked Bruce. Bruce didn't answer. He was resisting the drug as hard as he could. With one swift motion, Slade grabbed Bruce's arm and pulled him in front so he could bury his knee deep into Bruce's spine. The pressure point burned his entire body, and Bruce winced in pain. He nodded slowly, and Slade threw him back on the ground. "Keep up, boy."

Bruce looked up at Talia, but she was just as cold and expressionless as her father. He got on his knees. He would never be able to escape in his current condition. If he figured out a reason for Slade to let him back to the car, perhaps he could get far enough away. The first place he'd go was back to Wayne Enterprises. Slade was keeping Selina hostage there.

Before he could get back on his feet, Bruce looked up to see one of Slade's henchmen fall to the ground, dropping his rifle. He darted his head over as fast as he could and saw a sniper on the roof. The rest of the henchmen aimed their guns for the sniper, but before they could fire, the sniper's head fell off and his limp body fell two stories to the ground. On the roof, his killer stood proudly, a man in a brown suit of Kevlar and a pair of brass knuckles with copper claws coming out of them.

Slade's henchmen were about to shoot, but Slade put a hand up. "Bronze Tiger – you need snipers with better timing, my friend."

"I'm embarrassed you thought he was one of mine." Bronze Tiger growled, his voice low and grisly. "You've been a friend of mine for a long time, Stroke, but the Lazarus Pit only gets one use. Will you hand over the boy?"

Slade grabbed Bruce's arm and pulled him forward so he landed on his stomach with a pained grunt. Slade snarled, "Wayne Enterprises was smart to create a lock that would explode if it were operated by anyone other than a Wayne. My men will assist you in undoing it. You have two minutes, and remember that Selina Kyle will die if you fail. If you choose to betray me, die in the incinerating flash of the explosion knowing that your girlfriend will not have the luxury of such a quick death."

Bruce got on his feet and limped to the lock with the key card in his pocket. Behind him, Bronze Tiger jumped down from the roof and hit his claws together, creating small sparks. "I'm sorry it had to end this way, Stroke."

Slade's men and Talia stood aside and watched as Slade and Bronze Tiger struck at each other, metal clashing again and again with unerring speed. Tiger's claws hit Slade's sword and created sparks each time as the equally matched men swiped for the killing blow.

Behind Bruce, Talia darted around when she heard something. She yelled in Arabic for the henchmen to follow her, and she too was suddenly locked in combat with two women with bows and arrows that were combined with acrobatics and blades to deadly effect.

Bruce had put the key card into the slot and pressed the correct number sequence on the keypad. It recognized his fingerprints, and after it processed enough, the lock was undone, and Slade had thrust his sword through Bronze Tiger's chest. Bronze Tiger dropped to the ground with a dying growl and Slade pulled the bloody sword out between his lungs.

Slade grabbed Bruce's arm and said, "You're coming along a little bit longer." He kicked the door open and dragged the boy into the Indian Hill facility where the Lazarus Pit was hidden. Less than five minutes after that, Alfred and Jim barreled into the remaining henchmen with a police car and incapacitated the rest with bullets, allowing Selina to run inside after Bruce and Slade. Jim noticed Talia running after Selina and tried to shoot her legs, but she was too fast. His attention was redirected to the henchmen with rifles while Talia chased Selina through the halls of the building.

When Talia caught up to Selina, she dug the heel of her foot into Selina's calf. Her leg buckled and she fell so the side of her head hit the wall. Selina wrapped her foot around Talia's ankle and pulled her to the ground before getting up and staggering backwards from the dizziness.

"What was the point of making Bruce trust you?" Selina asked. "Your dad could have gotten everything he wanted without you."

Talia grunted, "It was practise. Everything is practise to him. When Ra's al Ghul is gone, someone will need to fill his place."

Selina laughed a bit in spite. "Don't try to stop me."

She didn't get far before Talia jumped back up and grabbed the side of her head, smashing it into a tabletop nearby. Selina was about to buckle over from the dizziness, and the hall already spinning before Talia brought her leg up to kick Selina in the chest, sending her backwards onto the ground.

"My father is a monster." Talia breathed. "I'll kill you much quicker than he will."

Talia was Slade's daughter, but she hadn't been trained by him. If she was, it was only for a few months. Selina had been living on the streets for her entire life. Strategy and experience would beat speed and technique any day. Not leaving the city had taken its toll on everyone, but Gotham gave back sometimes too.

Selina barrelled into Talia, the two on the floor trying to get on top of one another. Talia put a knee on Selina's chest and another on her neck to try and cut off her air, but Selina grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall. The two clashed into each other over and over again, and Talia was running out of breath a lot faster than Selina.

Selina jumped and put Talia into a headlock with her knee before bringing an elbow down into her spine. Talia staggered back in pain, trying to catch her breath, and Selina took her opportunity to bring her right arm back and strike Talia in the neck as hard as she could, the assassin falling backwards trying desperately to breathe and clutching her bruises.

If she wanted to, Selina could kill her. The Gotham in her was telling her to, but the Bruce in her was begging her not to. That was all Selina needed – to know that Gotham hadn't possessed her. She glared at her opponent on the ground, gasping in pain, and then she ran off down the hall looking for Bruce.

Slade and Bruce were right at the end of the hall, where a locked door stood between them and the Lazarus pit. It was another fingerprint pattern combination lock attached to a bomb. Slade dropped Bruce down on the floor next to the lock.

"This will likely be the last task you accomplish in life." He said. "You'll die having completed a noble gesture."

Bruce breathed, "Prove to me that you'll let Selina go."

Slade laughed a bit. "You're a smart boy. You must know Ra's al Ghul isn't going to fall for that. The only way she has a chance of walking out of Wayne Enterprises alive is if you open-"

The two stopped and stared at each other, both coming to the same realization when they heard Selina's voice coming from down the hall. She was screaming Bruce's name.

Bruce smiled a bit. He didn't even know he was smiling, just that for the first time, he had a knife over Slade's head. "You'll have to kill me."

Slade growled and looked down the hall to where Selina's yelling was coming from. "Maybe not."

The first step he took towards Selina destroyed every bit of confidence Bruce had built. When Selina stepped into view, the two froze in front of each other, both using their eyes to tell each other to run.

Like a cobra lunging at its prey, Slade pulled a knife out of the holster on his leg and grabbed Selina by the neck, holding the tip of the knife to her throat. Selina couldn't even understand what was happening until there was a knife to her neck.

"The only way you and her walk out of this alive is if you open that door." Slade growled, staring straight at Bruce who was still on the ground. Bruce was screaming to Selina.

When he fully understood the ultimatum he was given, he put his hands down and sighed, "Our lives for the entire city's. Tell me, Ra's al Ghul, why destroy Gotham after stealing its Lazarus pit?"

"I will humour you." Slade said. "After a Lazarus pit is used, it penetrates deep into the earth and festers, letting anyone with the knowledge of its existence easily know that one was here. After that, it doesn't take much to trace a trail towards me. Ra's al Ghul has many enemies. The only way I hide is by blowing a hole where the pit was, and the earth around it."

That was it. Bruce's mind was made up. Ignoring everything that Selina was doing to tell him to run, he turned around and put his right hand on the keypad, slowly pressing out the combination. After a few minutes, the lock compressed and the door was only being held closed by hinges.

Slade smiled and the knife at Selina's throat relaxed. He put the knife back in its holster and Selina was pushed forward. Slade stepped towards Bruce and said, "I am a man of my word."

Bruce glared into Slade's icy eyes for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. In one heartbeat, he yelled, "Selina, run!" and he barrelled forward through the door into the room behind it. Selina ran back down the hall to the entrance to get help, and Slade followed the former.

At the center of the room, there was a pool of sparkling water that looked like it was above a natural crater, with metal brackets built around it to preserve it and tubes in it connected to monitors that read its data. That was the Lazarus pit. Without thinking for a second, Bruce ran as fast as he could towards it and jumped straight in, lying at the bottom with closed eyes. His skin burnt, and it felt like he was burning to death, but only on the first layer of his skin. On the inside, it felt like the pit was forcing him to flex every muscle in his body. That was indescribable.

A Lazarus pit can only be used once. After that, it can't be used for the same purpose again. Bruce knew that, and Slade knew that. Bruce had just added fifteen extra years to his life, and Slade screamed in rage. As fast as he could, He ran in and grabbed Bruce's arm, pulling him out of the pit and throwing him across the floor. He was unconscious. Slade put his trembling hand into the pit, but he didn't feel anything. The pit was useless now.

Then, he turned to Bruce. He stood over the boy screaming and plunging his fists into Bruce's face over and over again. Slade pulled out a gun and shot Bruce in the chest, point blank, but Bruce was still breathing. The Lazarus chemicals were still radiating from every pore in Bruce's body, and the gunshot wound in his chest was rapidly healing.

"No!" Slade yelled. Then, there was another gunshot. Selina had gotten help. Jim stood at the doorway, bracing after putting a bullet in Slade's shoulder.

Slade stumbled backwards and glared at Jim with pure rage. "Ra's al Ghul cannot die. Someone else will take my mantle and we'll keep looking for more Lazarus pits. Slade Wilson may die, but Ra's al Ghul is immortal!"

Jim put another bullet into Slade's knee, and the assassin fell backwards into the pit, his blood dispersing into the waters. Alfred ran to put handcuffs on Slade and get him medical attention while Selina ran to Bruce's side. There was blood on his shirt, but none on his chest. He was completely fine.

"Bruce!" Selina yelled, shaking him. "Bruce, don't leave me!"

Bruce coughed, and blinked slowly. His chest started rising and falling steadily, and Selina sighed with relief. "Bruce, my life started when I met you. Before I met you, I was another monster that this city created. Everything I am right now is because of you. You aren't leaving me yet."

Two weeks after the incident, that facility of Indian Hill was shut down by Wayne Enterprises. Slade Wilson's body was taken to the morgue. The Lazarus chemicals must have killed him. Talia had been taken to juvenile detention temporarily while the police sorted out a new home for her. They believed she wasn't below redemption. Bruce knew better than that.

While Alfred was busy at city hall talking about closing Indian Hill, Bruce had snuck to the precinct to see Talia. Jim set it up. On opposite sides of a glass wall talking through phones, Bruce stared into the eyes of the girl that he thought was his friend and sighed, "Did you know what your father was doing?"

Talia laughed, "Of course I did. Every single night, he'd come up to where I was sleeping and tell me all about how cities would fall and peoples would die, but he would live forever."

"I know that putting you in foster care won't do anything. You'll just run away and find whoever else is Ra's al Ghul. You moved in with me. You made me trust you. You didn't need to do that."

"Yes, I did. Father told me that Ra's al Ghul needed guile and cunning. Now that he's dead, in a few years, I will be Ra's al Ghul, and I'll be forced to spend the rest of my life searching for Lazarus pits and blowing up cities. Except that life won't end in death."

Bruce nodded. "You make it sound like it's not a life you want."

"Isn't it? A Lazarus pit isn't just an extended life, it's a new life. If you're about to die and you enter a pit, you come out an entirely different person. It affects your brain. Not a lot of people would blow up cities for a few years of extra life. What makes the pit worth killing for is the new life. You tell me, Bruce. What would you give up to start completely new, all your sins and troubles of the past life erased? For some people, killing is worth knowing that they'll never have to do it again."

"But it wasn't like that for your father."

Talia shook her head. "It was. For the first few lifetimes, he was happy. The ghosts of his past were gone. That's what he said, anyway. Then it turned into an addiction. It's a cycle of vicious violence. He wasn't able to live with the things he did, and that's why he needs to track down Lazarus pits. But when you've blown up six cities, a Lazarus pit isn't enough to erase the wrongs. I think you did a favor for him by killing him."

Bruce stood up, hung the phone up, and walked away. He drove himself back home. Alfred wasn't back yet. It was just Selina. She was sitting on the windowsill of his bedroom, playing with a stress ball she'd stolen from the office. When she saw Bruce, her eyebrows raised and she dropped the stress ball.

"I just talked to Talia." Bruce said. "They're taking her to a new foster home."

Selina laughed a bit. "Right, because that's going to stick."

"Maybe it's best for her that she runs away. She was never going to feel at home. I could see it in her eyes."

"Because you've seen it in my eyes?" Selina asked. She stepped towards Bruce and put her hands on his shoulders.

Bruce looked confused. "What does that mean?"

Selina sighed, "I've been thinking recently about why I don't leave this city. I've tried to a lot, but I always keep coming back. Even before I met you, I was forced to stay here. I thought it was the violence, the anger and trouble. I thought I was addicted to it. I was _afraid_ that I was never going to be able to leave this city. I'm asking you to leave with me."

"With you?" Bruce asked.

Selina smiled, "Out of everything in Gotham city, you're the only person I care about now. If you leave with me and I still want to come back, then I'll know why I have to stay. But if you leave with me and I can stay gone, I'll know that I'm attached to you, and that I don't need Gotham in my life. What do you say, Bruce?"

Bruce thought for a long time and finally sighed, "Selina, I can't go. There's too much I have to do. I promise though, one day when everything is done, we'll leave together. We'll go somewhere peaceful and quiet by the water. We can be happy."

Selina nodded, still smiling. "I'll look forward to then."

 **Hope you enjoyed the story. I've already started the first chapter of the next installment, which will star someone that I'm really excited about that only hardcore Batman fans are going to know – Shihan Matsuda.**


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